The essentials
- Customer reactions. Sonos users complain about missing features and poor performance of the app.
- Impact on the inventory. The redesign debacle has caused Sonos’ stock value to drop sharply by 25%.
- Company reaction. Sonos has promised regular updates, but customers remain skeptical and frustrated.
App redesign gone wrong? Sonos customers say yes.
In early May, audio device maker Sonos released a new app design that is said to make the company’s software easier to use, give users more control and personalize the experience.
Before the redesign, Sonos told customers that all existing features would remain the same. However, after the release, users discovered that this was not the case. And they are not happy about it.
Now customer satisfaction – and also the company’s share price – has plummeted.
Customers complain online
Numerous complaints about the redesigned app have surfaced on online forums such as the Sonos Community and Reddit, as well as on social media sites such as Twitter.
The list of complaints is long and includes:
- Missing sleep timer and alarm function
- Defective management of the local music library
- Broken volume and pause buttons
- Inability to edit playlists and queues for upcoming songs
- Broken accessibility features for blind users
- Android and iOS apps put a strain on the battery life of mobile devices
- Speakers and hardware are not displayed in the app
One Twitter user shares a video of himself launching the redesigned app on his phone, which he describes as “new and well-featured.” In the video, the Sonos app tries to load continuously for nearly two minutes before the video cuts out.
Thought you guys at @Sonos should check out the new app you’ve now forced the upgrade to on my relatively new and well-equipped phone. Keep an eye on it… pic.twitter.com/CE0TleGAD1
— Dave Stow (@davestow1) July 31, 2024
Another person wrote: “@Sonos used to be one of the top companies when it came to magical UX. Now I can’t even change the volume.”
One user pointed out that the problems may go beyond the app’s redesign, writing, “It’s hard to understand how the app could be released without these essential features, @Sonos… The company that made the product probably needs to put in as much work as the software.”
It is difficult to understand how the app could be released without these essential features @Sonos
The organization that created the product probably has to do as much work as the software. pic.twitter.com/t09sbg1wY7
— Johnny Rodgers (@johnnyrodgersis) July 26, 2024
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Sonos CEO apologizes and promises solution
After strong reactions, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence published a letter apologizing for the problems and informing customers what they can expect from the app in the future.
The letter represents a stark departure from the company’s previous response to complaints, in which Chief Product Officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin told The Verge: “It takes courage to rebuild a brand’s core product from scratch, knowing that you may have to take a few steps back to ultimately make the leap into the future.”
Spence laid out a schedule for future software updates that extends through November and calls for a new update to be rolled out every two weeks. The to-do list includes:
- Implementation of music library configuration, browsing, searching and playing
- Improved volume response
- Improve overall system stability and error handling
- Improve alarm consistency and reliability
- Restore playlist and queue edit mode
- Improve functionality in settings
- Troubleshooting speakers not connecting to Wi-Fi
While Sonos slowly adds back missing features and functionality, angry customers remain and many are unhappy with the current update schedule.
Many on the Sonos Community forum urged the company to revert to the old version of the app – which the Sonos team claimed they cannot do. “Rolling back to the previous version of the Sonos app will likely cause issues. As Sonos continues to move forward with new firmware updates, the old apps will quickly become incompatible,” the Sonos team wrote.
One Twitter user responded to the apology letter by joking about the size of Sonos’ development team, adding: “The claim that it takes months to restore the ability to edit a queue is unbelievable.”
Another wrote: “It’s just not good enough. Spent over $10,000 on a complete Sonos home system. Even if you fix this app, the damage is done. You will never get another dollar from me as a customer.”
It’s just not good enough. Spent over $10,000 on a complete Sonos home system. Even if you fix this app, the damage is done. You’ll never get another dollar from me as a customer.
— TeeJay (@tomj437) 1 August 2024
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Sonos highlights the connection between CX and business value
Even though Sonos promises to fix the poorly received app, the damage is already done. Customers are unhappy that the company released the app when it didn’t seem ready. Others claim an apology just isn’t enough and vow to spend their money elsewhere.
To make matters worse, Sonos customers who have attempted to use customer service to get their devices and app working have reported long wait times and a poor customer experience.
One Twitter user wrote: “@Sonos, hello Sonos, I’ve just spent 20 minutes on hold at Sonos UK and when your colleague finally answered, his line was really stuck. When I said I couldn’t understand him, he just hung up…”
@Sonos hi Sonos, I just spent 20 minutes on hold at Sonos UK and when your colleague finally answered, his line was really stuck. When I said I couldn’t understand him, he just hung up 😡
— Michael Dee (@MJD56) July 31, 2024
Not only has Sonos lost loyal customers, investors are losing millions as well. Since the app redesign, Sonos stock has plummeted 25%. On May 6, the week the redesign was introduced, the stock price was $17.88 per share. By August 1, it had fallen to $13.09.
Unfortunately for Sonos (or its customers), this isn’t the first time the audio brand has failed when it comes to customer experience. Back in 2020, customers complained about the brand’s poor customer service. That complaint came months after the company decided to stop providing software updates for older devices—some of which were barely five years old.
The bottom line is clear: an outstanding customer experience cannot be achieved without the support of the executive team. And the leadership team at Sonos appears to be part of the 1 percent that thinks the customer experience is “not important,” according to CMSWire’s “State of Digital Customer Experience 2024” report.
Will Sonos be able to recover? Only time will tell. The brand needs to keep its word about future updates and features. And even then, customers still need to see real value in the products and experiences the company delivers – if they don’t switch to the competition in the meantime.
At the moment, it seems that the only thing keeping customers with the brand is the money they have already invested and do not want to lose.
